MATCH PREVIEW: Yorkshire v Lancashire Lightning
Yorkshire v Lancashire Lightning
Vitality Blast, North Group
Friday June 5, 2026, 7pm
Headingley
The first of two blockbuster Roses clashes is upon us.
Lancashire, sat fourth in the North, travel across the Pennines to face group leaders Yorkshire. The Red Rose have won one and lost two so far, while the White Rose have won three and lost one.
Both were beaten in their most recent encounters; Lancashire by Leicestershire at Emirates Old Trafford on Friday night and Yorkshire were beaten at Headingley by Gloucestershire on Sunday.
The Red Rose do have at least a game in hand on all of the sides above them - Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Durham - in the race for a top-two finish to guarantee quarter-final qualification.
It may be that third place also secures the same result, though it’s only the two best third-placed finishers across the three groups who advance.
This is part of a double-header T20 day at Headingley, with Yorkshire’s women facing Durham from 3pm.
The Sky Sports cameras will be present at Headingley.
Opposition
Yorkshire form part of a good quiz question. They are one of only four teams never to have won the Vitality Blast. Who are the other three?
We will give you until the end of this section to work out the answer.
But safe to say, Yorkshire are very keen to end that statistic this year, and their winter recruitment, added to their form over the last few weeks, indicates there is a decent chance.
The White Rose management - general manager of cricket Gavin Hamilton and coach Anthony McGrath - have added significant experience to the squad for 2026.
They have signed former England all-rounder Moeen Ali and ex-Australia seamer AJ Tye to T20 only deals, while their two overseas players are Pakistani duo Hassan Ali and Faheem Ashraf.
Hassan, of course, played Championship cricket for Lancashire back in 2022 but never in the Blast.
Jonny Bairstow is their captain, replacing Dawid Malan, who left for Gloucestershire in the winter. They have also signed former Perth Scorchers Big Bash winner Sam Whiteman, though he is yet to feature in this competition.
Yorkshire have claimed victories over Nottinghamshire and Durham away and Derbyshire at home. The Derbyshire game, which was sandwiched in between, saw them recover from 139-8 in the 16th over to reel in a target of 195. Hassan and Tye starred with the bat.
They have only ever reached three Finals Days and were beaten by Lancashire in a high-scoring 2022 semi-final at Edgbaston. They have not qualified for the quarter-finals since.
The answer to that quiz question…Derbyshire, Durham and Glamorgan are the other counties not to have won the Blast.
Opposition player to watch
Hassan Ali has made an excellent start to life in Yorkshire colours having previously played county cricket for Lancashire and Warwickshire. He played Blast cricket for the latter in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
The effervescent Pakistan seamer, also a dangerous lower order hitter - as he proved against Derbyshire a couple of Sundays ago with 31 not out off 12 balls, has taken six wickets in three Blast matches this season.
He can bowl with the new ball and again at the death.
Aged 31, he is just two wickets away from 350 in his T20 career.
Previous meeting
Lancashire and Yorkshire shared victories in last season’s Blast, which saw the Red Rose qualify for Finals Day and the White Rose miss out on quarter-final qualification.
They were two mid-July clashes, and Lancashire won at Headingley after Yorkshire had won at Emirates Old Trafford.
The Headingley game saw Lancashire bowled out for 174, including Jos Buttler’s excellent 77 off 46 balls with three sixes. Opener Phil Salt had also contributed 42 off 29 at the top of the order.
The visitors would have wanted more but fell to 132-4 late in the 15th over to 174 all out,
In reply, Yorkshire slipped to 66-4, though recovered to be in reasonable health at 132-5 in the 15th over. At that stage, with Pakistani batter Abdullah Shafique unbeaten on 54, it was very much game on.
But they also collapsed late on and were bowled out for 153 in the 20th over, the Red Rose triumphing by 21 runs.
Sir James Anderson and Chris Green, with seam and spin, were particularly impressive with 3-25 and 3-27 respectively.
What they said
Steven Croft is confident Lancashire can push on from a mixed start to this season’s Vitality Blast.
The Red Rose have yet to fully hit their straps, with an impressive win over Nottinghamshire at Emirates Old Trafford sandwiched in between defeats away and at home to Surrey and Leicestershire.
“It’s been a little bit indifferent, like most of our summer,” said head coach Croft. “But hopefully we’re getting some players back to fitness. We’ve got Liam Livingstone back now, and one or two more of the IPL lads to come in as well.
“Whatever team we put out there, we want to win, we've got a strong enough squad to cope with it.
“This is a format we generally do really well in. There are lots of positives to take forwards, and there’s no better time to get a win than away at Headingley.
“Form is irrelevant in those sorts of games. It's a game where whoever keeps their head and can put in a great performance, it’s going to go a long way to winning the game.”
How’s Stat!
Lancashire have beaten Yorkshire 20 times in Blast history, losing on 16 occasions.
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